At the Chaotic Brink of Insanity
by Ol'Sephy
Summary: David, Aerith Gainsborough's older brother by two years, is on a quest to help the Keyblade Master on his own journey to save the worlds, while in search of his sister. But not all will go as planned, forcing the two of them to make difficult choices...
1. Prologue

**Prologue...**

_Infinite in mystery_

_Is the Gift of the Goddess._

_We seek it thus,_ _And take to the skies._

_Ripples form on the water's surface._

_The wandering soul knows no rest._

_Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII_

_Loveless_, Act I

_"Congratulations, ma'am," the doctor said over the wailing of the baby in his arms to the woman on the hospital bed, "It's a boy!"_

_The woman looked up as the doctor said this and a small tear came to her eye. Her long, shiny, brown hair was disheveled and her beautiful, green eyes were dulled with weariness, but she still had a joyous glow around her. Her face was now contorting with a mixture of weariness and pure, unmistakable ecstasy. She wiped her face on her hospital gown and held out her arms to her beautiful baby boy. The doctor gently placed the child in her arms and, suddenly, the baby stopped crying. The eyes that gazed back at her were green like his her's but the sparse hair on the top of his head was pure, jet black. The mother looked up at the doctor and cocked her head to one side._

_"Why is his hair this color? My husband's hair is blond and mine is brown... Wait. Does it have something to do with, um, what's it called..."_

_"Recessive genes." The doctor smiled. "That is what you mean, but I'm not sure that that's it..."_

_"What? What do you mean?"_ _"When he was born, I was sure that his hair was blond. Then, when he was being cleaned, it looked brown. Now, it is black! I'm not sure what that was about, but his eyes did the same thing. I looked into his eyes a while ago and they were blue. Now they are green... It's like his body can't make up it's mind on what color everything should be! It sure is a mystery..."_

_But the woman wasn't paying attention. She was lost in the eyes of her son. Her one and only child. In fact, she had been staring into his eyes since she had asked the last question._ _Hmmmm, she said to herself, I feel like he knows exactly what I'm thinking, what I'm saying... There is an intelligence in his eyes that can only come with age and wisdom. What are you thinking, little one? I wish I could see into your head, my little Adrian..._

_"Ma'am?" The doctor tried to get into her field of vision, but she was completely oblivious to him and everything around her. He smiled and left the room, closing the door gently behind him._

I remember it all so clearly. The day the Keyblade Bearer was born. I felt the wave of magically charged energy wash past me, on its way to alert those who could feel it of this great event. I smiled as I watched all of this as if from above. I waved my hand through the Mist and focused my eyes on my surroundings.

The Lhusu Mines were not the nicest set of caves for a single traveler to wander. Luckily for me, the thick Mist that enveloped Site 7 and the Staging Area was an excellent deterrent for fell creatures who would try to make a snack of me while I spoke with the Lifestream. The bluish rock sparkled as the Mist swirled around and around, reflecting the light and showing me the spirits of those trapped within it. I strode over to gaping hole in the wall that led outside. It looked to have cut roughly by a massive sword. Or, perhaps, multiple, smaller swords.

I smiled as a heard a snuffling behind me. As I turned, I heard the voice of an old man, trying not to attract my attention.

"Damn you a thousand times over! Enkidu!" The voice didn't seem to have a source. But, of course, the Mist did have that effect on sound. "Return to my side!"

I saw an over-sized wolf look around for a moment, then look at me. I guessed that the wolf was Enkidu. It took a hesitant step toward me, then the voice spoke again, halting it.

"Nay! Come to me!" The wolf turned a little to the right, as if looking over its right shoulder. It then turned around and started sniffing something at the entrance to the Site. I walked over to the wolf and saw an extremely large, old man trying to drag the wolf away from the entrance and out of sight of me. I stopped and watched the two fight for a moment, amused. This old kook didn't even notice me.

"Come, Enkidu! You must --" He froze and looked slowly over at me. He had a scarf wrapped around the lower part of his face and seemed a little lumpy around his mid-section. There were two large lumps in his coat-folds that looked like they could be extra arms. He stood to his full height, (which was a good nine feet tall), and proved my comparison of the lumps on his sides much more true than I could have hoped for. Two extra arms unfolded from his sides, and then another two. The lumps were extra arms!

"Aw, crap." I muttered as the man drew a katana for each arm. Six katanas against my magic? Not likely that I'll win.

"Long have I gone without food nor rest as I search for the Sword of Legend!" The man yelled, brandishing his katanas at me, "I am the mightiest swordsman in all Ivalice! You are nothing compared to the Great Gilgamesh!!! Your lack of a blade will be your undoing!" And he charged at me, slashing like a madman. I easily sidestepped him. He was surprisingly predictable. He ran headlong into the wall behind me, falling onto his rear. I turned around as I heard a growl from Enkidu and fell backward to dodge his lunge. He crashed into Gilgamesh as he attempted to get up.

"Damn you a million times over, Enkidu! Fly, you clumsy dog! Fly!" Gilgamesh got up and charged me again. I jumped as high as I could to dodge him. He ran right underneath me, crashing into another wall. He got up again, Enkidu at his side.

"Blast you! I've fought worse!" And he sheathed a katana, reaching behind himself to the sheathes on his back. I groaned as I saw what came out of that sheath.

"The Buster Sword?!" I yelled, but stopped dead when I saw the character that was written on it. It was a foreign symbol that read, "fake." I busted up laughing.

"You dare mock me?! I will crush you! Enkidu! Prepare for a juicy feast for dinner! This fool's bones will make a fine mean for you!" And, once more, he charged me, bringing the Buster Sword down upon my head... Well, he would have, if I hadn't cast a Haste spell on myself while he had been ranting! He spun around to see me standing there, smiling away. He roared and did something that really took me by surprise! He actually threw the Buster Sword at me like a boomerang! I ducked just in time, barely inches away from getting my head chopped off. I lunged underneath Gilgamesh's attacks and palm-thrust him in the gut. The arm that had thrown the Buster Sword went straight down to his stomach, therefor completely missing the Buster Sword as it flew back at it. The large hilt of the blade flew around and clocked him right in the forehead. His katanas all flew out of his hands and he fell backward. The Buster Sword flew straight up into the air as Gilgamesh landed on his back, arms splayed out. The Buster Sword came spinning back down, the deadly edge of its blade ready to rip Gilgamesh in half. Lucky for him, I caught it as it was about the puncture him. I had jumped over him, grabbing the handle as I went by it. I landed on his other side, skidding to a stop with the sword out behind me.

He gasped and sat up, holding his chest. He looked around, wondering what had happened to the blade that was about the slaughter him. He turned around and saw me pointing the blade at him. He jumped up and yipped like a dog, Enkidu doing the same. I smiled.

"You gonna take this? It's kinda heavy." I said, flipping the handle around so that it faced him. He looked at me out of the sides of his eyes. Then, he lunged forward, grabbing the Sword and then jumped back.

"Why didn't you let my own blade finish me?" He asked, sheathing the Buster Sword and picking up his katanas.

"'Cause then I'd have a huge, bloody mess in my living space." I said, grinning. "I wouldn't like having to drag a body with your mass over to that hole and dumping it off. Plus, I think your little wolf buddy'd kill me if I tried. He'd want to eat you first."

"Pardon me?" Gilgamesh looked at me funny. "My companion wouldn't perform such an act of betrayal! Enkidu is --"

"A wolf," I finished for him, "In all actuality. Do you honestly think that he'd let a meal your size slip by? Not a chance, buddy!"

"Hmph." Gilgamesh nodded and put his last katana away. "Perhaps you speak the truth. I would like to believe otherwise..."

"Don't get all depressed, now! I'm just stating the facts! Now, Mr. Gilgamesh... What brings you to my humble abode?"

"I am searching for a Blade of Legend. Scoured have I the furthest marches, east and west. And now my search brings me here."

"Uh... Okay... What kind of 'Blade of Legend' is this?"

"A Blade of great worth and power. It is said that the wielder of this Blade shall fear no man, spell, or beast. Not even Death can withstand the power of this Blade..."

"And what if someone already has it?"

"Then I shall challenge him! I will make that Blade my own!"

"But what about it being this incredibly powerful Blade that nobody can defeat?" Gilgamesh fell silent and stared at me. We stood there for a couple moments.

"Damn it all to hell!" He bellowed, breaking the silence and making me jump. "I shall have this Blade, no matter the cost!"

"Geez! Calm down! I just meant --"

"Argh! We shall see! Any fool who dares steal my dream shall meet a dire end, indeed! Come, Enkidu! Our search continues!!!" And he pulled out an amulet that started to glow. A portal opened in the air. I froze for a moment, then jumped forward at him.

"Wait!" I grabbed one of his arms and he stopped. "Where does this lead?!"

"To another world, boy! Now release me so my search can --"

"Which world?!" I screeched, desperate. Please, let this be the one...!

"You sincerely wish to depart from this world? You would follow me?"

"Just tell me!!"

"It is a world with a grand city, fallen to ruin. A great calamity fell from the skies long ago --"

"YES!!!" I screamed and jumped through the portal. And I instantly wished that I hadn't.

It was pitch black. There seemed to be nothing but this pressing darkness around me. I could feel the ground move, as if it was rippling. I closed my eyes and realized that it was just as dark with them open. I heard Gilgamesh's voice calling out to me.

"Foolish boy!" It got closer as I saw a light off to my left. I turned and saw Gilgamesh and Enkidu, both glowing as if from an internal fire. "You cannot hope to traverse the space between worlds without a guide! Follow me and I will take you to Gaia..."

And I followed the radiant figures of Gilgamesh and Enkidu..........


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One...**

_Five years later..._

_Even if the morrow is barren of promises,_

_Nothing shall forestall_ _My return..._

_Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII_

_Loveless,_ Act III

_Journal,_

_It has been five years since Gilgamesh and Enkidu led me through the Space Between Worlds. I have made a comfortable life for myself in New Nibelheim. I have heard that, at one point, a great SOLDIER came to the original town on a mission. That mission ended in disaster due to the SOLDIER going insane, setting fire to everything, and slaughtering innocents. Apparently, Cloud Strife had some part in these events, as a normal Shin-Ra Army man. My main interest is Zack Fair. If my sister really cared that much about him... He must have been a good guy. No doubt. My sister isn't easily won over. This Zack must have been an outstandingly good guy._

_My sister..._

_I have been having trouble speaking to the Planet lately. I can't seem to get into the right mindset. I hope that she's still okay. If she were to get hurt..._

_Well, that's about it for now. I hope to be getting some actual sleep tonight, so staying up too late isn't a good idea. Yes, even if it means writing in here._

_Good night, then!_

David put his pen down and bookmarked his place in his Journal. His long, dirty-blond hair fell into his face as he got up. He pushed it back and looked around his room.

It was nice, in his opinion, staying in what used to be the Strife residence. It made speaking to Planet a little bit easier, especially when trying to find out more about Cloud Strife and his story. David had learned that Cloud had just been an ordinary guy. He had moved away from Nibelheim when he was fifteen, off to Midgar to join SOLDIER. He never made it to SOLDIER level, but he joined the Shin-Ra army. He came back to Nibelheim seven years ago on a mission. Along with him came that soon-to-be insane SOLDIER 1st Class and another SOLDIER of the same rank. The other SOLDIER was Zack Fair.

David lay down on his bed as he recapped the story to himself...

The group went to the mako reactor on Mt. Nibel to investigate the sudden rise in monsters that had occurred. Tifa Lockheart, Cloud's childhood friend, was their guide. But Cloud didn't show his face at first, too ashamed that he had come back to his home without accomplishing what he had set out to do. When they finally got into the reactor, they saw the truth. Monsters were being created and bred by the Shin-Ra scientist, Hojo. He apparently had no morals. He was taking normal human beings and experimenting on them, making them monstrosities of creation. The insanity-bound SOLDIER went into a frenzy trying to find out more about this "Jenova," which was the word that was carved into a doorway in the reactor. Apparently, his mother had been named Jenova. A couple of days later... He snapped. He completely lost it. The next thing anyone knew, they were either dead, almost dead, or wishing they were dead. Tifa had followed the now-crazed SOLDIER up the mountain in search of her father, who had apparently been up there. Zack and Cloud went up shortly after, Zack first, leaving Cloud to help out the villagers.

David smiled, wishing that he could have seen what had happened on the mountain while Cloud evacuated the survivors.

Cloud had helped out the villagers as much as he could when he realized that Zack should have been back by then. He rushed up to the reactor and found Tifa and Zack both in pretty bad shape. Zack had been thrown into one of the canisters that held the monsters and Tifa had a pretty bad slash wound across her stomach. Cloud helped her out and took off his helmet to show that he had come to keep his promise to her. She passed out and Cloud went further into the reactor. He found Zack's famed Buster Sword stuck into the platform. He took it up and stabbed the crazy man through and through with it, nearly chopping him in half. He left the nearly dead SOLDIER there to die and went to help Tifa and Zack. Later, the SOLDIER came out, carrying, of all things, a humanoid-looking head. Zack told Cloud to finish him off. Cloud ran up to the man, ready to kill him, but got ran through by the incredibly long sword that the man wielded. The man threw him through the door and followed him, stabbing him again. This time, he picked Cloud up on the sword, holding him over the reactor. Cloud summoned up all the rest of his strength and actually pulled himself along the sword, back onto the platform! He grabbed the blade and threw the SOLDIER into the wall, using his own body as a counterweight. The SOLDIER saw that it was pointless to fight Cloud and jumped into the reactor.

That's about the time that Cloud's story draws a complete blank for David. He just simply can't see anything else. Was that it? Did Cloud die? No, he couldn't have died. David could still feel him within the Lifestream. Plus, the Planet says that he is alive and doing quite well. David scratched his head. He wondered what it could mean. He had the same problem with his sister. He knew that she was alive somewhere, but couldn't see anything about her. The Mist from the Ivalice world had been nice, as it had provided a nice reflection of other worlds. It was a lot like the Lifestream and talking to the Planet. It was just visible, rather than a passive feeling or an audible voice. Well, it wasn't audible, per se, but whatever. He know what he meant.

He was about to drift off in the middle of his thoughts when he heard a knock at the door downstairs. He jumped a little. Who could this be? It was past midnight!

David got up and went downstairs. He crossed his living room to the door. He looked through the peep hole. A man in a black cloak. With a hood on that covered his face.

_Aw, crap,_ he thought to himself, _A bad egg... _

He grabbed his lance and held it off to the side of the door, just out of sight. He didn't want to scare this guy off if he didn't mean any harm. He opened the door a little bit and leaned on the doorway, hiding his lance.

"May I help you?" The man just stood there for a moment, then handed David a large, black envelope. It had a strange symbol on it. He couldn't quite decide what it was. It was like a silver, upside-down heart of some kind. He took it with his right hand and looked at it. He was hit with a wave of sudden dizziness and he wavered in place, about to fall. He felt the Lifestream shift around him, compensating for the sudden surge of energy. He looked back up to the man after he had recovered to ask what this was about, but he was gone.

"Ooookay..." He closed the door and locked it. When he turned around, the man was standing there, right in the middle of David's living room! David jumped back a little, readying his lance. The man laughed and then spoke in a low, deep-toned voice.

"You are on edge. That is excellent for my cause..."

"Okay! Who the hell are you and how the hell did you get into my house!"

The man laughed, a chilling sound.

"Do you honestly think that I would just tell you my name? Pity for you..."

"Cut the crap! What do you want?!"

"That envelope contains an... Invitation, of sorts. My colleagues and I may have use of your... Skill."

"Sorry, not interested." David said, still at the ready for an attack.

"Hm. That's too bad. I was hoping to make this easy on you. I leave you now with a decision. You can either read the invitation and do what it requires of you. Or you can ignore my request and be taken by force after three days. The latter of the two choices would not include very comfortable... Accommodations. I can assure you of that."

"I doubt that I'll take either, but you can try to take me, if you want. You won't get very good results with that!"

"Very well. Three days." And the man vanished before David's eyes.

"Aw, crap. What to do..." Then, it hit him. "I guess Lucrecia deserves a visit..."

And, with that, David trudged upstairs to ponder the pros and cons of the situation. And to possibly read the invitation. He hadn't decided yet...


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two...**

_The next morning..._

_To know_

_That which before us lies in daily life_

_Is the prime wisdom. ..._

_Paradise Lost_ - John Milton

David got up the next morning and went downstairs. He was especially groggy this morning, so he went straight for his kitchen to make himself a pot of coffee. As he stirred the steaming drink, he heard something that he hadn't heard in a long time. A rumbling off in the distance. He smiled. A thunderstorm. He was going to get a little wet on his way to see Lucrecia.

That's when he remembered what had happened the night before. The man in black. The invitation. The strange feeling he had when he had first held the envelope...

He dropped his mug in the sink and ran back upstairs. The envelope was still there, on his nightstand. He shuddered. What was going on? He jumped when his cat, Rona, rubbed up against his legs and meowed. She looked up at him and purred. He just looked back and stood there for a moment. Then, his brain restarted and he shook his head.

"You want food, no doubt." She purred again and ran downstairs. He followed her and got her some fish out of the fridge. He cut it up and put it into a bowl, then put the bowl on the ground. She pretty much pounced on it and started eating. David smiled and went back upstairs.

When he got back to his room, he just stared at the envelope on his nightstand like it was about to start moving on its own. Or like it was a bomb. Regardless, he didn't like the general feeling that emanated from it. He slowly approached it and picked it up. The feeling that he had felt last night when he had picked it up was gone, but there was some residual magic left over from the initial delivery. He looked at the strange symbol on the front an saw that it was shimmering, like a mirage in the desert. He turned the envelope over and ran his finger underneath the flap, tearing it open. He pulled out what looked to be a small computer screen of some sort. He tapped it and it jumped out of his hands. It then began to glow and rotate in mid-air, getting faster and faster. Finally, it got spinning so fast that he couldn't actually see it anymore.

He backed away from it and stood against the wall...

Then, he heard it.

A million screaming souls, all trapped inside that small space. He could feel every last one. Their pain. Their anger. Their hate... He fell to his knees and felt an incredible pain shoot from the center of his left palm and into his shoulder, running all the way up into his brain.

Then, he knew no more.......

* * *

_Three Days Later...

* * *

_

David slowly opened his eyes, groggily looking around him. He was lying down on the ground as if roughly tossed in some kind of holding cell with white, marble-looking walls, ceiling, and floors. There were three pod-like devices on the wall to his right. Across from them was a door that had a diamond-shaped, bar-filled opening in it. Beyond the opening, he couldn't see anything.

He got up, staggering. What had happened? How had he come to be here?

"Ah!" A voice resonated from nowhere. "You have awakened."

A black swirl of magic appeared from thin air in front of the door and the cloaked man stepped out of it. He was still wearing his hood, hiding his face from view.

"What do you want from me?" David stood ready for an attack. The man seemed to be sizing him up.

"I think that you should know that." The man raised his hands to his hood and flipped it back. His medium length, silver hair fell out of it, a single tuft of it staying spiked above the rest. David recognized him instantly.

And his guard faltered.

The man smirked and David knew that his guard was too late. An electrifying blast shot through his body as his foe charged him, swinging around behind him before he could move and slamming some kind of charged rod into his back. He fell to his hands and knees, gasping desperately for breath that wouldn't come. The man stepped around him, slowly, coming to a halt right in front of his bowed head. David's eyes tried to focus on the boots in front of him. He had to ground his mind before it spun out of control with the pain...

"Can you spare... A heart?" David's eyes widened as he felt his whole being jerk toward the man, though his physical body stayed still. The pressure behind this one man's will was incredible. It was beyond anything that he had ever felt, be it in Lifestream, Mist, what have you. He felt the electricity that lifted him off the ground shoot into his body long after he was in the air. His head lolled around, falling to his chest, over to his shoulders... He couldn't ground his thoughts to anything. He couldn't feel the constant pulsing and flowing of the Lifestream nor the shifting, shimmering Mist here. It was like this place didn't even exist...

Aerith...

That's when his eyes snapped open and he felt his heart jolt back into his chest. The man knew what was happening and tried to throw David against the wall with the electricity, but to no avail. David redirected the power behind the throw and thrust himself mentally downward to the ground. He went down as the man shot up into the air, hitting the white ceiling of the room. His hands went to his chest as David took control of the bolts of electricity that had just been ripping his heart from his body. He directed the attack at the man's own chest... Only to see that it was only paralyzing him. The man laughed as he was held in place by the lightning.

"You would find it difficult to steal the heart of one who lacks one!" The man's eyes flashed and David was thrown violently backward.

He thought the door would hold up and waited for his body to crash into it. However, his faith in the sturdiness of the door was a poorly placed one. In other words...

The door exploded.

He catapulted through the white, shimmering stone and out into a darkened corridor, slamming into the opposite wall. He slowly got up, blood running down his face, his left leg on fire with pain, and completely dazed by his sudden encounter with a less-than-solid surface. The door was behind him, in two pieces. His foe didn't emerge from the cell. In fact, he was nowhere to be seen. David was happy to keep it that way.

He looked around him after he had recovered a little bit to see other doors that were identical to the one that had not held up to having a young man thrown into it. There was a pair of large, white doors at one end of the corridor, while the other end was dark, too dark to see the end. He shivered. Usually, the Lifestream would illuminate the darkened hall, but not here. He turned away from the dark and faced the doors. He approached them, limping slightly on his injured leg to find the right-hand one partially open. There was a sliver of light coming through it. He put his back to the other one and peeked through the crack. All he could see was a red circle on the ground that was glowing with a mysterious light.

He stepped through the door, opening it without a sound.

He saw more now. The red light was on the bottom landing of a ramp that spiraled around and around for quite a ways before leading to another ramp that stretched from one side of the silo-like area to the other. He looked down from the edge of the landing to see a pit that seemed to fall forever. He shivered again. He wouldn't want to fall down _that_. That's for damn sure...

He started making his way painfully up the ramp. As he rose, the light got brighter and brighter, so that he could see more of what was around him. He saw that the walls and floor of the pit were lined with what looked like ribbons of the red lights. He kept going up the ramp, trying not to think of what he was going to find. Uncertainty is the worst kind of fear, in his eyes. He should know. He's never uncertain of anything. The Lifestream made sure of that...

But, he was also trying not to think about the pounding migraine that had come on from the door incident and the blasts of fiery pain that was shooting through his leg with every step he took. But he was just going to deal with those...

He got to the top and found that he was in what looked to be a giant factory of some sort. An elevator was open off to his left, up some stairs and down a catwalk. He made for that. When there's nowhere else to go, why not go up, right?

Right?

And he would learn more about that man. Why was he here? And why, seemingly, did he lack a heart? What was he planning?

Was that really who he thought it was?

Was that really...

Xehanort?


End file.
